Gus Schilling

Biography

August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 - June 16, 1957) was an American actor. August "Gus" Schilling (June 20, 1908 – June 16, 1957) was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films — Citizen Kane (first screen performance), The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady from Shanghai, Macbeth and Touch of Evil (final performance, released posthumously). Born in New York City, Schilling had a rubber face and flustered gestures which made him a natural comedian and he began his career understudying comedy stars Bert Lahr and Joe Penner on Broadway. He soon became a favorite among burlesque comedians, who welcomed him into the burlesque profession. Schilling was in a relationship with burlesque star Betty Rowland and the couple toured in the Minsky burlesque troupe. Orson Welles saw Schilling in New York and followed him to Florida. There Welles hired Schilling to appear in a stage production featuring several Shakespearean scenes. "I learned my part by taking the script to Welles and having him translate the lines to everyday English," Schilling recalled in 1939. Welles promised Schilling a part in Welles's first motion picture, and kept his promise: Schilling is featured in Citizen Kane (1941). This established Schilling in Hollywood movies as a "nervous" comedian (he plays a jittery symphony conductor in Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin', for example). He also co-starred with character comedian Richard Lane in a series of 11 comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures; the series ran from 1945 to 1950.

Most Known For

Citizen Kane

as John

Touch of Evil

as Eddie Farnham (uncredited)

Macbeth

as A Porter

Rebel Without a Cause

as Attendant (uncredited)

The Magnificent Ambersons

as Drug Clerk (uncredited)

Bride for Sale

as Timothy

The Lady from Shanghai

as Goldfish

Calendar Girl

as Eddie Gaskin

Bigger Than Life

as Druggist (uncredited)

Run for Cover

as Doc Ridgeway

See My Lawyer

as J. Ambrose Winkler aka Winky

Presenting Lily Mars

as Scotty - Stage Manager

Hellzapoppin'

as Orchestra Conductor

On Dangerous Ground

as Lucky

She Couldn't Say No

as Ed Gruman

You Were Never Lovelier

as Fernando

A Thousand and One Nights

as Jafar

Executive Suite

as Newsstand Vendor (uncredited)

It Started with Eve

as Raven

Dr. Kildare's Crisis

as Orderly Cleaning Window